protective parent, you're not trying to be too pesky and say, doctor, i don't know if you're telling me the truth. >> these parents, don and connie, they know they made this doctor angry. he was visibly annoyed with them. but they said, hey, we're so sure that this could be a trauma from her -- from the hit on the head, that we don't really care if we're making people angry. >> i'm sure doctors understand. >> exactly. >> all right, elizabeth cohen, thanks so much. empowered patient special this weekend. the name of your book. thank you very much. hand it off now to my colleague wolf blitzer in new york. the president is struggling to prove to voters they're walking the walk and creating jobs. democrats try new tactics and a tax to save their jobs on election day. also, the nerve-rattling video from inside an emergency plane landing. stand by to hear the warnings of a possible crash and feel the fear that you hope you never

have to experience for yourself. flooding crisis in the nation's heartland. we're tracking the danger that are overflowing right now. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." president obama and the democrats are taking their last best shots at convincing voters that they're part of the solution to america's economic problems. with just 36 days to go until the election, they're hoping the bill mr. obama signed into law today will help make that clear. the $42 billion measure is designed to create jobs bip giving tax credits to small businesses and making loans more available to them. the president had the knives out as well as his pen out. he was asked today about criticism that he hasn't hit back hard enough at republicans. listen to his response in an interview on the "today" show.

>> what i'm seeing out of the republican leadership in the last several years has been a set of policies that are irresponsible. we saw in the pledge to america a similar set of irresponsible policies. they propose tax cuts and $16 billion in spending cuts and say we're going to magically balance the budget. that's not a serious approach. the question for voters over the next five weeks is, who is putting forward policies that have the chance to move our country forward. >> democrats are having a mixed success in pointing the republicans over the economy. check out our research corporation poll. 41% of those surveyed say republicans in congress are more responsible for the nation's economic problems compared to 35% of the people who say democrats are more to blame.

a huge butt. half of those surveyed, 47% think republicans in congress are more likely to improve the economy. that's compared to 41% that say democrats in congress are more likely to make the economy better. those are the numbers of the brand new poll. it helps explain why democrats are trying anything and everything to win over voters who are jobless, desperate for an economic fix. let's bring in our senior congressional correspondent, dana bash. democrats are feeling desperate themselves right now to show voters they're addressing the jobs issue. how is that playing out on capitol hill tonight? >> well, wolf, this is the last week congress will be in session before the election. and senate democrats have scheduled a late night vote on an issue that democrats in trouble are already seizing on in races all across the country. and that is keeping american jobs from going overseas. >> needs to be done -- >> from california --

>> fiorina shipped jobs to china. while californians lost their jobs. >> to ohio. >> rob portman knows how to grow the economy -- in china. he voted for billions in tax breaks for companies that export jobs. >> to pennsylvania. >> he even favors tax breaks for countries that ship jobs overseas. paul kanjowrski is on the side of working families. >> reporter: they're pounding opponents for jwith a message they hope will resonate. >> when mike fitzpatrick was the deciding vote, one year later, those jobs relocated to nicaragua and el salvador because of mike fitzpatrick and george bush. >> his research shows democrats are getting hammered for joblessness and a bad economy may have a shot with voter ifs they accuse republicans of backing policies that outsource jobs. >> this is one of the most public issues democrats have to

work with for sure. the absence of jobs as they look around their communities. so we're trying to focus that anger. >> that's why democratic leaders are using the remaining days before at the election to push 11th hour legislation. >> creating jobs by making it in america, not transferring jobs overseas. >> a series of bills in the house, even one this week requiring american flags to be made in america. now, in the senate, the bill to end some tax breaks for companies expanding overseas and giving new tax incentives to businesses bringing jobs home. >> when a corporation tries to take away someone's job and send it halfway around the world, we have to stop them. >> this bill we'll be voting cloture on on tuesday will do nothing to create jobs here in our country. >> republicans scoff at what they call the latest in a series of desperate last-minute political votes. melman and other democratic strategists are telling their

candidates, this -- >> it's a bright line. it won't be enough to change the whole political climate. is it enough to win some seat somewhere? the answer is yes. >> a little bit of a reality check. democratic sources say they know the legislation they're pushing this week has no chance of passing. but they say that they hope that they're going to at least be able to hold republicans' feet to the fire even more by forcing them to vote against these bills or at least block these bills that have to do with outsourcin outsourcing. republican strategists aren't concerned about this. voters know very well that democrats are the ones who have been in charge for two years as unemployment continued to rise, wolf? >> dana is on the hill. thanks very much. a lot more on the economy, jobs, issue number one, politics. but this is a delicate moment in the middle east right now. a very uncertain middle east peace process. the obama administration is refusing to concede the direct

talks between the israelis and the palestinians are dead. but israel's decision not to freeze the settlement on the west bank left everyone on pins and needles. paula hancocks standing by. what's going on, paula? what's the latest? >> not so long ago. we heard from alec lieberman. he's over in new york at the moment. the decision by iz asrael not t extend the freeze are not provocation. they're using it as an excuse. according to mr. lieberman, he believes the palestinians did not come to the talks with good intentions. they were strong armed by the united states. not a great atmosphere to continue the talks. as for the palestinians, we know that the palestinian president, mahmoud abbas originally said if the settlement construction continues, we'll walk away from the talks. we have seen with our own eyes this morning, the settlement construction has started again.

it's continuing. the president said he'll take another week to decide whether or not he'll walk away from the talks. there's an arab league summit nexteek and he'll consult with the other arab leaders. he wants more of a joint stance that gives them more power and allows them to save face somewhat. a lot of disappointment, a huge disappointment. that the israelis were not able to extend the freeze. we've seen on the ground that the settlers think they're victorious. they're happy to build again and they are building again. wolf? >> paula hancocks in jerusalem. let's get the obama administration reaction. a few days ago that the president of the united states went before the united nations general assembly and directly appealed to the israelis to extend the settlement freeze that clearly has not happened. jill dougherty is standing by with more. what are they saying?

they started the direct talks a month ago. and now potentially it could be at a deadend. >> p.j. crowley freely admits they're disappointed. but he said we've got a dilemma to resolve. at the same time, the long-term objective of the united states, he claims remains it same. and that is to get back to negotiations, to complete them in one year. he said we believe we can get through, as you called it, this turbulence. so what are they doing? they're lobbying very hard as they have been for quite sometime now. the special envoy of the middle east is meeting both sides in new york. he'll be holding more meemtings this week. secretary clinton has been holding a lot of meetings with foreign ministers, a series of

the them. and meeting with the syrian foreign minister. diplomats, the u.s. and arab diplomats tell us obviously the settlements are going to resume. the real question is what kind of settlements? are they settlements in areas that if there were a peace agreement, israel would control that might not be as inflammatory, or would it be east jerusalem? that would be a major problem. so, the -- one of the factors here, wolf, you have to say is ambiguity. neither side wants to look as if they're caving. that's been the case for quite sometime. and the arab diplomats are telling us, wolf, that note that benjamin netanyahu from israel has been saying. calling for the t.a.r.p. to continue and restraint in the building. so you have to watch the fine line in this. >> jill dougherty is over at the state department for us. a sensitive, very, very delicate moment right now. we'll stay on top of it, thank

you. the governor of wisconsin has declared a state of emergency as flooding reaches dangerous new levels. keeping close watch on the crisis in the midwest right now. and a chilling image as a small plane crashes to a building. we're going to tell you how it happened. and veteran bush political strategist karl rove appears to be making a comeback of sorts to help the republican party. stay with us.

[ male announcer ] nature is unique... ...authentic...

...pure... and also delicious. ♪ like nature valley. granola bars made with crunchy oats and pure honey. because natural is not only good, it also tastes good. nature valley -- 100% natural. 100% delicious. sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi place around the corner. well, in that case, i better get back to these invoices... which i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes. you know what? i'm going to tidy up your side of the office. i can't hear you because i'm also making you a smoothie. [ male announcer ] marriott hotels & resorts knows it's better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

he's certainly a political force in the gop and a mastermind some of the victories of former president george w. bush. now, with the republicans poised to win back the house this november, "the new york times" is reporting karl rove is back. joining us to talk about that and more, senior political analyst, david gergen and gloria borger. are all republicans happy that karl rove is back? >> lots of those running for election are happy that karl rove is back. some of the tea party activists are not thrilled with him because he said that christine o'donnell and the state of delaware was unelectable. he was unhappy because he felt she could cost them control of the senate. but there are lots of republicans here who feel that the republican national committee is not doing some of the things that it needs be doing. and that they're thrilled with karl rove along with ed

gillespie and former bush advisor are raising something like $32 million to help do things like get out the vote and run some attack ads in districts in which they feel they can really make a difference. >> david, can karl rove mastermind another republican political victory on november 2? >> i don't think he'll mastermind it, wolf. you know, there's a wave in this country that neither karl rove nor anyone else will control. but he can make a difference in some individual races. he already is. the l.a. times reported it, for example, this weekend that in two races, very important for the senate, harry reid hoped to get a knockout blow against martha engle and the tea party candidate in nevada. karl rove and his group have poured money into it and they kept her competitive. it's an even steven race out there right now in california. barbara box er running for the

senate hoped to knock out carly fiorina. she had great financial advanta advantage. the outside groups poured money to the fiorina campaign. she's behind but she's competitive. so, they can make a difference. and so many races, you know, the democrats are arguing, there are 15 races in the senate within five points. >> gloria, the republican party today as opposed to two years ago or four years ago or six years ago seems to be different? it's a totally different republican party. republican values, small government, lower taxes, those kinds of things remain pretty stable. and i think it's kind of a national message that karl rove's group, american cross roads, and congressional candidates can run on together. i think the important thing in the republican party right now is that they've got the democrats running so scared that i talked to a top strategist for

some house democrats who say, look, we may now put karl rove in some of our ads, and they're going to say he's running a secretly funded corporate campaign. because, you know, a lot of this money comes from very wealthy establishment republicans. and they're going to use rove in these races because he polls so well. he's unpopular among democrats but they can help bring out the base. to tell you the truth, that's just at the margins. >> you know, david, in our new cnn opinion research corporation poll that's out today, we asked the question, how well are things going in the country right now. 29% said, well, 70% said badly. when you have numbers like that, it does not bode well for the party in power in the house and the senate in the white house?

>> even though a large number of americans continue to blame george w. bush more than they blame barack obama for the fact that things aren't going well, inevitably, if you're the incumbent, you're paying the price when times aren't good. some of the pushback is coming because times aren't good. those numbers, you're right,it' two-to-one, americans are down on where the country is. we've been down for a long time. >> that's not wrong track, that's off track, right? voters think it's gone off of the rails. and the democrats have been in charge, for better or worse, no matter who caused it, for the last couple of years. they're going to take the fall. >> i don't think the public is all that far off about it being the wrong track. >> these elections five weeks away. watching every step of the way to see if the democrats can do anything to turn things around over the next few weeks, gloria,

david, thank you. looks like something straight out of a movie, it's not. ahead, we'll take you inside a scary real life emergency plane landing. plus, extreme measures to keep secrets. why the pentagon bought thousands of copies of this book -- and then ground them up to a pulp. to everyone who wants to go to college and everyone who started college but never finished... to late bloomers... full-time moms... and everyone who is good at something but wants to be great. welcome to kaplan university. the university that's changing the face of education... to undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees...

degrees that can give you a leg up... in a tough job market... in any job market... welcome. welcome to kaplan university. call kaplan university now or visit us on-line to take our free learning assessment. let's see how low we can go. let's do some little things... that help us save big. add some insulation here. a little weather stripping there. maybe an energy star-rated appliance, or two. let's save money on the things that keep saving money. that way, we can turn a little energy into a lot of savings. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. we're lowering the cost of staying at room temperature with owens corning insulation -- just $10.44 per roll.

kate baldwin is monitoring some of the top stories in the situation room right now. kate, what's going on? >> take a look at the video. one person is dead following a small plane crash in arizona. you can see it right there in that building. a cnn affiliate reports a single engine beach craft bonanza hit a building while attempting to land. then burst into flames. no word on injuries or what caused the accident. and pope benedict? well, he's defending the vatican bank in the wake of a rare money laundering probe. the pope met with the director of the bank today and told him he trusts him and appreciates his work. prosecutors see some $30 million in questionable bank transactions last week. the investigation is the result of a, quote, misunderstanding. and there's no end in sight for china's controversial one child policy. the country's planning

commission said the 30-year-old policy which limits most couples to one child will continue in the coming decades. some critics had urged beijing to relax the measure over concerns it skewed the population. according to statistics, the policy estimated 400 million births. interesting, this one policy prevented hundreds of millions of births and now they say it's resulting in an aging workforce. it's quite interesting. >> wow. we'll stay on top of that story as well. thank you, kate. the pentagon is accused of shocking censorship. thousands of books destroyed. literally. new extremes to protect military secrets. >> when you hear them yell, "brace for impact," like being in the plane yourself and wondering if you're going to make it out alive. stand by for the dramatic video and audio. 50 are still talking about retirement tdd# 1-800-345-2550 like it's some kind of dream. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it's either this magic number i'm supposed to reach, or... tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it's beach homes or it's starting a vineyard. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 come on!

tdd# 1-800-345-2550 just help me figure it out in a practical, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 let's-make-this-happen kind of way. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 a vineyard? give me a break. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 [ male announcer ] looking for real-life answers tdd# 1-800-345-2550 to your retirement questions? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 get real. get started. talk to chuck. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 (announcer) everything you need to stretch out on long trips. residence inn. personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. deal!

my money. my choice. my meineke.

critics are accusing the pentagon of a shocking form of censorship. at issue, thousands of books that were literally destroyed.

the pentagon correspondent barbara starr is following the story for us. what's going on, barbara? >> we have a best seller on our hands now. but it is a best seller that the pentagon still really doesn't want you to read. extreme measures to keep secrets secret. a pentagon recently bought nearly 10,000 copies of this book, "operation dark heart," an account of spying and special operations in afghanistan by army intelligence officer lieutenant colonel anthony schaffer. and then, the government had them ground to a pulp. a pentagon spokeswoman said the book contained information which could cause damage to national security. the author disagrees. >> there are some things that the author didn't want in, i took them out. if they felt it was sensitive and couldn't be referenced properly, it's out. >> it's officially a landmark in the history of publishing and in the history of government

censorship. >> steven aftergood's project on government secrecy encourages reform of secrecy rules. he has two copy of the now banned version of the book. >> i saw a few things that raised eyebrows. there are more names of intelligence officials than one normally sees in published works. but there's really no way for most readers to -- to know that those are real names or to make much of them, or at least there wasn't until the pentagon said, hey, wait a minute, these need to be censored. >> aftergood believes it's unprecedented for the president to destroy an entire run of a published book. some of the classified information left out of the second printing seems ordinary at best such as the national security agency's nickname, "the fort," but schaffer discussed

highly sensitive intelligence operations in afghanistan now covered by black ink in a new second printing of "operation dark heart". and, wolf, here it is. "operation dark heart." if you want to buy it today, this is what you're going to get. a book with a lot of blacked out passages. the classified information the pentagon does not want you to see. now, lieutenant colonel schaffer said the manuscript did go through the appropriate review process and was only stopped when more senior officials got their hands on it and saw it. but senior pentagon officials say colonel schaffer as an intelligence officer should have known better than to write some of the material that he did. wolf? >> does he face some sort of punishment or problem as a result of this? what's going to happen? >> not that we know of. the pentagon has now bought up 10,000 copies, had them all turned to pulp. and now, you know, no big surprise. this book is now number one on

amazon.com, in part due to the publici publicity. the pentagon didn't want the book to have. and now people are buying up this version with the blacked out passages. still, though, there's a few copies we're told of the original floating around out there in the cyberworld that you can't stop knowledge in the information. wolf? >> all right, barbara, thanks very much. i remember a time when the situation like that has unfolded. thank you. it's been more than six weeks since raging flood waters devastated pakistan. now the u.s. military is in a race against time to get aid to the country and people out. here's cnn ooze frederick pliken. because every sack of wheat counts, the helicopter is stacked all the way to the ceiling. the u.s. had 18 choppers from the 16th combat air brigade out of wainwright alaska flying relief missions in northwest pakistan. warrant officer aaron

cunninghamm flies a c-7 chinook. >> it's small, we're in villages that don't normally have aircraft traffic. they're not set up to handle aircraft as big as this. some of the landing sites that we dill with are kind of small and some aircraft in there but you have to be careful and watch what's around you. >> reporter: the u.s. has been flying here since shortly after the flooding hit this area. they shuttled in thousands of tons of aide from wheat to water to medical supplies and ferried thousands of people in and out of devastated areas like one of the most affected towns in the swamp district and still inaccessible by road. >> the u.s. military will fly dozens of these missions every day. they're one of the few lifelines for so many people who are problem after the beginning of the flooding are still cut off from the re of the world.

>> reporter: sergeant aaron franks maybes sure the cargo is secure during flight. >> how much flies does the helicopter bring to places like this? how much do you carry? >> about seven metric tons. >> reporter: metric tons. >> seven metric tons. >> reporter: how many people can you evacuate? >> typically 100 people. no more than that now. >> reporter: the choppers help local farmers who are cut off get their produce to markets. it's one of the most beautiful but also one of the most volatile places in pakistan and was controlled by taliban militants until last year. but the crews say they've seen no hostility from the population. >> we've had no problems. we've had no security issues. it's been safe. and they're in need. and from what i've seen, they're extremely happy to see us. >> reporter: the soldiers are working against the clock. winters are harsh in the mountainous swat district and a month from now, snowfall could

make flying here impossible at times, even for pilots from alaska. cnn, pakistan. the wisconsin river is rising, so is the flooding. danger there the severe weather expert chad myer is showing us how bad it's getting right now. new fuel for concerns about the afghanistan president hamid karzai. there's word of a criminal investigation to karzai's own brother. how come my dap wasn't like that? huh? it's just an "us" thing. yeah, it's a little something we do. who else is in this so-called "us"? man, i don't know. there's a lot of us. [ chuckles ] ask your friends what it's like to be part of a group that's 40 million strong. state farm insures more drivers than geico and progressive combined. it's no surprise, with so many ways to save and discounts of up to 40%. so call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online. let's see how low we can go. let's do some little things... that help us save big.

add some insulation here. a little weather stripping there. maybe an energy star-rated appliance, or two. let's save money on the things that keep saving money. that way, we can turn a little energy into a lot of savings. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. we're lowering the cost of staying at room temperature with owens corning insulation -- just $10.44 per roll. "be careful out there. "as you know, we have more standard safety features "than you. "10 airbags... daytime running lamps... "onstar automatic crash response. "in case ya didn't see it, that's probably why "msn autos called the cruze "the class of its class right now. that seems pretty clear, doesn't it?" the all-new chevrolet cruze. starting under $17,000. get used to more. ♪

kate baldwin monitoring the situation room right now. rick lazio is dropping the bid to be new york's next governor. lazio was defeat in the gubernatorial primary by carl paladino but was later endorse bid the conservative party. the presence in the race would end up helping the democratic nominee. lazio says, however, he will not endorse paladino. a new unofficial study is predicting big congressional seat gains for southern and western states in the aftermath of the 2010 census.

the data services prediction projects arizona, nevada, south carolina, utah, and washington will add one additional seat where florida and florida will add two and four seats respectively. a number of states in the midwest and the northeast are expected to lose seats. southwest airlines has announced plans to merge with airtran. the $3.4 billion deal would make the airline the largest in the country and would allow it to expand to major airport hubs. a spokesperson says once the deal goes through, all planes would fly under the southwest logo and adopt the less burdensome policy on fees. no word yet on when the merger will be finalized. the fees, wolf. the fewer fees, the better. >> i think i'm with you. most of our viewers are as well. thank you. it looks like something out of a movie. it's not. ahead, inside a scary real life emergency plane landing. plus with growing talk that president obama could be losing

a key member of his inner circle, what can he do to regain what's called his mojo? we'll talk about that and more on our strategy session. its great. i eat anything that i want. key lime pie, pineapple upside down cake. no, i've actually lost weight... [ female announcer ] over 30 delicious flavors at around 100 calories each. [ wife ] babe... i gotta go. [ female announcer ] yoplait, it is so good.

republican strategist, alex c castalanois. and maria is at the dewey square station. play a clip of the president speaking on the "today" show this morning, asked about his chief of staff, rahm emmanuel who might be leaving very, very

soon to go back to chicago to run for mayor. listen to what the president said? >> i think that ram will have to make a decision quickly because running for mayor of chicago is a serious enterprise. i know that's something he's been thinking about. >> he's got to make a decision. the elections are february. you have to start doing all sorts of stuff. this is not an easy decision, obviously. you think rahm emmanuel is going to do this? going to quit the white house to go back and run for mayor? >> that's the $65,000 question and something that everybody loves to talk about. but if you believe what you read, which is that this is, in fact, ron's dream job and a lot of his close friends have said that it is. he has said that it is, then i think that the -- what we can bet on is he will look seriously at leaving and pursuing that. >> alex, is this a big deal or a little deal for the president who's obviously in some

political trouble right now to lose his chief of staff at this moment? >> it's not a bad time for a transition because he's going to have a very different congress to work with after november. so, wolf, this is a good moment to refresh the presidential brand after november. he's been pulled way left by this congress, the democratic congress, which is much more left of center than the american people. frankly, a good time for a fresh start when republicans have the chance to take the house in november. >> everybody seems to think, mar maria, that rahm emmanuel tried to push the president towards the center as opposed to the left -- with the left wing of the democratic party. give the president some advice right now, what should he be doing in looking for the new chief of staff, what type of person does he want for somebody from inside that inner circle? already there or bring a fresh face in? >> i think the most important thing here, wolf, is he does need to bring in new fresh faces. there are a lot of smart people who surround the president, a

lot of smart people that he knows. he needs to choose somebody who understands his thinking but understands the cross roads that this administration is facing. i agree with alex, this is a great time and a great opportunity for the president to take a quick step back and really take a look at how you rejigger the message to get to voters' hearts, to get to their gut. he's got the intellectual part down and everything they've done has been to help the voters that feel the most angst. he needs to communicate that from the heart. >> some suggested he should bring in a former democratic white house chief of staff like john podesta, alex, for example, who worked for bill clinton or leon panetta who's now the cia director who worked for bill clinton. what do you think of that idea? >> both well respected, both serious people. i think they'd have a lot of support from that on both sides of the aisle. ultimately, you're right, he's got to have somebody who he's comfortable with.

the president lost his mojo when he inherited this congress. there was an inspiring barack obama than he has become. he's going to be rid of this ball and chain in november. he's going to be able to say, you know, america sent me a left of center congress and now they sent me a right of center congress and i'm going to work pragmatically with them. so either of those two gentlemen or someone else in the rahm emmanuel mode will help him. >> another name, tom daschle, the former senate majority leader who is now in private practice in washington, d.c. at one point, he was going to be the health and human services secretary, that didn't work out because of tax related issues involving a car and a driver. you remember that, maria. but do you think he would be a good chief of staff? he doesn't need confirmation, as you know, in order to be white house chief of staff? >> he would be terrific. he's incredible smart and well respected on both sides of the aisle to alex's point.

and he knows as ram did the ins and outs of congress which is something that i do think you need in a chief of staff. but i think interestingly enough, what alex is saying is a myth when, in fact, what this administration has done, a lot of the policies are straight down the middle. if they had been as left leaning as alex said, you wouldn't have the progressive left also clamoring for the fact that they don't think this administration has brought the change that they need. so this president has governed very much down the middle. what he needs to do is communicate that to the heart of the voters, to the gut of the voters, his communicative skills can be used to do that. this is a great opportunity to do that now. >> let me ask you about inroads the republicans may or may not be able to make among latino hispanic voters. alex, first to you. they've been leaving the republican party, certainly 2008 and 2006. right now, are they as disillusioned at the democrats as so many others are?

you suspect there are opportunities for the gop with the hispanic vote right now? [ speaking spanish. i don't think hispanics are leaving the republican party. hispanic or anyone else in this country is unemployed, you're worried about the same things. you know, we're seeing this resurgence of republicans among hispanic voters. and even with candidates. we have marco rubio who's leading the ticket, i think, in florida, and doing, you know, tremendously well there. there's a new generation of hispanic republicans, including the governor of puerto rico who's a tax cutting, spending cutting, pro growth republican down there who swept 2/3 of the legislature into office. so, i think this is -- this is the idea that somehow by talking about how we grow this economy and create jobs and somehow republicans are losing votes, it's a -- i'm not seeing that. i'm seeing, in fact, the opposite. >> maria, go ahead.

[ speaking spanish ] >> it's no. there is no way that latinos are going to be flocking to the republican party, especially with the history that this party has with latinos recently. the most -- the most important issue to latinos, wolf argue right now, to latino voters is immigration. and the republican party has completely turned their back and frankly betrayed latinos on this issue in the last three years. on the last three years, the immigration debate left latinos feeling persecuted. even latinos whose families have been here before this was america feel that the republican party has completely abandoned them. they have no chance. >> i think maria -- as much as i love maria, i think she's overstating the case here. the reason a lot of the hispanics wants to come to the united states is because of the economic opportunities that are here. if they're not here, you know, there's no reason for any of us to remain.

that's something we have to fight for and fight hard for to preserve jobs and growth in this country. the republican agenda for that, we're not going to send awe all of the money to washington and hope it trickles down for jobs for us and let people in their pockets and let them invest in their own hopes and dreams here, that's what attracted immigrants to this country in the first place. >> i have haven't felt welcome. >> two smart analysts. the next time we'll do this in spanish, guys. thank you very much. >> all right, guys, thank you. >> thanks, wolf. dozens of homes and families at risk right now from raging flood waters. stand by for the latest on the weather emergency in wisconsin and when it might end. cnn obtained some shocking evidence against the united states soldiers trained to kill in afghanistan, but not in the way that's being described. our special investigations unit is looking in to this. ♪ [ male announcer ] it's luxury with fire in its veins. bold. daring.

capable of moving your soul. ♪ and that's even before you drop your foot on the pedal. ♪ the new 2011 cts coupe from cadillac. the new standard of the world. i've been looking at the numbers, and i think our campus is spending too much money on printing. i'd like to put you in charge of cutting costs. calm down. i know that it is not your job. what i'm saying... excuse me? alright, fine. no, you don't have to do it. ok? [ male announcer ] notre dame knows it's better for xerox to control its printing costs. so they can focus on winning on and off the field. [ manager ] are you sure i can't talk -- ok, no, i get it. [ male announcer ] with xerox, you're ready for real business. the craftsman hammerhead goes everyday. driving home nails quickly and easily in the tightest spaces.

more innovation, more great values. craftsman. trust. in your hands.

right now, flood warnings are in effect in parts of minnesota and wisconsin. the wisconsin governor declaring a state of emergency just a little while ago. rivers are rising after heavy rainfall last week. in one area, 100 homes could be lost because a sand levee failed. let's bring in chad myers. chad, this is pretty bad right now. >> it is. there are 60 counties with something out of its banks. a river, a creek, a stream,

something. that's why all of these -- this is minneapolis. as far west as yankten, south dakota. the town we're talking about here is portage wisconsin. there are two levees. one very old one, 120 years old. it's made of sand and wood. made by farmers 120 years ago to keep the wisconsin river in its banks and out of the farmland down here. well, right around here, right there, in an area named blackhawk, because there is a blackhawk road there, the water is going under the levee, bubbling through the sand and water is coming out the other side and the dnr, department of natural resources, really afraid this thing is going to break. some pictures from portage earlier today had the water all the way up to that levee. we're talking right to the top. sandbaggers are out, trying to hold this back. but what happens -- and it's called a boil. when you get water to push under

a levee, doesn't matter how high the levee is. when water is going under it, water will continue to erode that dirt and in this case sand from that one bubbling, boiling part of the levee. that's what's happening now. there are 150 homes right there that are in trouble. now, the town of portage, wisconsin, not in trouble at all. their levee system, their bank of the river, much higher. they're in good shape. all the way up here. thousands of people that live in portage. it's the people south of portage. luckily, not a very populated area. i suppose that's why the levee is 120 years old because there's not much of a population density down there. otherwise, you'd hope someone would build a bigger levee. >> that's amazing. thanks, chad. cnn has obtained shocking evidence against u.s. soldiers trained to kill in afghanistan. but not in the way that's being described in our special

investigation. stand by for that. plus, it's every plane passenger's worst nightmare. we'll take you inside a very scary, real-life emergency landing. i don't want you going out on those yet. and leave your phone in your purse, i don't want you texting. >> daddy... ok! ok, here you go. be careful. >> thanks dad. >> and call me--but not while you're driving. we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru. the power and versatility of six tools packed into one. more innovation. more great values. craftsman. trust. in your h i but i justve my 5 employcan't afford it.ance, i have diabetes. i didn't miss a premium payment for 10 years.

and i'm worried if i lose my job, i won't be able to afford insurance. when i graduated from college, i lost my health insurance. the minute i got sick, i lost my insurance. not anymore. not anymore. not anymore. america's healthcare reforms change lives for the better. to find out how it can help you, visit us at americasfairhealthcare.org it's not just fair, it's the law.

if you fly pretty often, this next story is likely to punch you right in the gut. you may have heard about that emergency landing by a delta flight right here in new york over the weekend. now you can experience what it was like for yourself. it's really scary.

allen chuan chernoff has more o story. what happened? >> it was a very dramatic few minutes before that emergency landing. the plane had originated in atlanta, was bound for white plains, just north of new york city, but the pilot diverted to jfk, which has a much longer runway. brace for impact the pilot ordered. then a command from the flight attendant. >> heads down. stay down. >> reporter: it was a harrowing landing at new york's jfk airport for 60 passengers on board delta flight 4951 operating by atlantic southeast airlines. >> heads down. stay down. >> reporter: the original destination had been white plains, new york, but when the pilots detected a landing gear problem, they asked to divert to a longer jfk runway. >> we're having a gear problem. do not want to land. we need to check with company, but do not want to land at white

plains with a gear problem. >> i text messaged my girlfriend and told her i love her. the lady in front of me, i see her get teary. she's reaching for her husband to hold his hand. >> reporter: with the right wheel stuck in the up position, the pilot uses the right wing to stabilize his landing. sparks fly as the wing skids along the runway. >> we start coming in very slowly. slowly it's landing. a little bumpy. we feel it's leaning on the side. >> we came down and, you know, the plane tipped slightly and the sparks came out. >> reporter: and then the plane came to a stop. >> everybody was clapping. we -- you know, immediately we evacuated the plane. we were all on the tarmac. everybody was hugging and shaking hands and just happy that we all made it. the pilot came out and thanked us and we thanked him. it was just a really incredible, incredible few moments afterwards. >> reporter: it had been no easy task for the pilot. >> i wouldn't want somebody that didn't have much experience doing it.

it would be the difference between a -- how a professional race car driver handles a tire blowout at 150 miles an hour and a person that's never done that. >> reporter: while it's not common for landing gear to fail, it has happened to atlantic southeast airlines. june of last year, in atlanta, an atlantic southeast bombardier jet successfully landed with the left main gear only partially extended. the incident is still under investigation. and in 2002, an atlantic southeast aircraft successfully landed in spite of a left landing gear failure. the ntsb determined that failure was due to a fatigue crack in the landing gear. it would be surprising if that were the case of this incident boss the bombardier jet in this case is only a year and a half old. the national transportation safety board and the naa will be

investigating. the airlines say it's very proud of it crew and it will be working with investigators to determine the cause. >> all right. hope they find out. thanks, allan chernoff. you're in "the situation room." happening now, american troops are accused of killing afghan civilians for sport. we have the interrogation tapes and the shocking admissions as the troops themselves try to explain how highly trained soldiers allegedly could turn into a group of killers. and sarah palin, newt gingrich and three more republican presidential prospects are all under contract of fox news. they are barred from appearing on other tv networks. who will ask them some tough questions? and back to the future. top democrats are out on the campaign trail trying to find that lost magic from 2008. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we begin with a shocking story. american soldiers allegedly killing for sport on the front lines in afghanistan. cnn has now obtained tapes in some cases confessions of the soldiers involved. three afghan civilians are dead. 12 u.s. army infantry men are accused. and the u.s. military is trying to explain how a rogue band of american soldiers killed for sport by day. drew griffin has been digging into this story. drew, tell our viewers here in the united states and around the world what you've learned. >> it's almost hard to believe, wolf. most troubling is the details are coming from the soldier s themselves, explaining to investigators how these three afghan men on three different occasions were pulled from their homes, stood up, shot, and blown up for no apparent reason.

in the tapes obtained by cnn, the soldiers accused in their own words are not denying anything. but trying to explain how highly-trained soldiers could become a band of killers. >> so we identified a guy, like, you know, gibbs. gibbs makes a comment like, hey, do you guys want to wax this guy or what? and, you know, he would set it up. so he grabbed the dude. >> reporter: corporal jeremy morlock accused of killing three afghan men, two my shooting. the third, which is described to a military investigator, was literally a set-up, he says, by his platoon leader, sergeant gibbs. >> we had this guy by his compound some gibbs walked him out and set him in place, like, hey, stand here. >> was he fully cooperating? >> yeah. >> was he armed? >> no. not that we were aware of. >> where did you stand him? next to a wall?

>> next to a wall so gibbs could get behind cover after the grenade went off. we placed [ bleep ] off over here. and, you know, we pulled out one of his grenades, american grenade, you know, popped it, throws the grenade and tells me [ bleep ]. all right, dude, kill this guy. >> reporter: he goes on to describe two more killings, unarmed afghan civilians picked out, stood up, shot and then blown up with a grenade. >> did you see him present any weapons or did he -- was he aggre aggressive at you at all? >> no, not at all. nothing. >> okay. >> he wasn't a threat. >> reporter: michael lottington is the corporate's attorney. >> i want you to tell me that this didn't happen, that this isn't true. can you? >> that three people were not killed? >> that members of the u.s.

military didn't go out and three afghan civilians were killed for sport. >> you have the -- you have the -- from what i understand, the case file. i mean, you know what the witnesses in that file say and what they say in their -- in their videos. but i -- that's what it sounds like. >> reporter: to defend his client, he will try to prove corporal morlock aroulready injd in two separate ied attacks was suffering from brain damage and instead of treating him, he says the army drugged him. >> so your defense is that your client was mentally incapacitated and that the army either knew it or should have known it. and he should not have been put in that position. >> the army knew it because they were prescribing drugs to him to

try to treat his symptoms. his symptoms involved nausea, vomiting, inability to sleep. these are injuries that are common in traumatic brain injury. the army knew he was blown up in two ied attacks. the army chose to take his weapon, give it back to him, because for whatever reason, and then load him up on drugs. >> reporter: the drugs shown here districted in plastic baggies, included ambien which carries fda warnings about producing suicidal thoughts. the trouble began, morlock says, in november of 2009 when the striker brigade got a new squad leader, calvin gibbs. >> when gibbs showed up at the unit, he bragged to the young soldiers underneath him, including my client, about killing innocent people in iraq. >> reporter: staff sergeant gibbs is charged in all three killings and witnesses stated it was this new commander who

orchestrated, coerced and threatened the striker brigade to both kill afghan civilians and cover up their murders. and there is something else. the u.s. army accuses staff sergeant gibbs of collecting teeth, leg bones and fingers as souvenirs. did your client see those fingers? he says he did. >> according to the statement, he did see that happen. >> wolf, it's alleged in the charging papers that drugs were being smoked frequently by these soldiers. it was laced with opium, came from the locals and it was not hard to get. hearings now under way for the soldier that we heard from involved basically hearings to determine if they will face a court martial in the military justice system. we want to congratulate drew griffin for the emmy nomination

that "the situation room" has received in the category of outstanding business and economic reporting in a regularly scheduled newscast. you saw drew's report right here in "the situation room" that was a shocking story of the price that taxpayers were paying for a wheelchair that summed up the problems the country faces in overhauling the health care system. the emmys tonight in new york. let's hope that drew and "the situation room" win. so what kind of fall-out is likely from this still-developing atrocity story? peter bergen is joining us now. peter, will this do in afghanistan, for example, what abu ghraib did in iraq? will this undermine the u.s. image there that american officials have worked so hard to build up? >> well, we haven't seen the pictures of the alleged incidents. we see the confession. i think it's different to see pictures of, you know, naked d

bodies being piled up in a pyramid like in abu ghraib. but afghans think this issue of afghan civilian casualties is very sensety. we've had the president, karzai, talk about it, the isue that is most damaging to the nato and american soldiers there. and the fact is that a fair number of afghans now have access to television and they're going to see this story soon enough themselves with the confession of these soldiers for these crimes. >> these soldiers apparently admit that they were using drugs, opium, which is so available in afghanistan right now. talk a little bit about the availability of these drugs and the impact potentially on soldiers. >> well, these drugs are, you know, 92% of the world's heroin comes from afghanistan. so, you know, it's very easy to find this, to find opium.

also, there's a lot of marijuana. afghan soldiers and policeman have been smoking marijuana. i've seen that in the past. however, it's very surprising that u.s. soldiers would be doing this. this is a -- you know, all-volunteer force. there's drug testing. this is, you know, a very different situation from vietnam, where people was -- it was a conscript group and people were taking drugs. so i think this is quite unusual and not at all common in today's force in afghanistan, wolf. >> the -- we remember the abu ghraib incident, had a dramatic impact not just in iraq but throughout the middle east, throughout the arab and muslim world. is this the kind of story that will have that impact? >> i don't think it has the visceral impact of abu ghraib. the pictures were -- particularly in the arab world where showing the naked body is such a cultural taboo, the crimes here are much, much worse if the allegations are true, but the pictures aren't there. and so while, you know, i think,

you know, this story is pretty amazing and the fact that cnn has obtained these tapes is quite a coup, i don't think it will play with the samepeter be. we'll have more on this story tonight, 8:00 p.m. eastern on "rick's list." jack cafferty is off today, but among the stories we're working on in "the situation room," five possible presidential contenders, all republicans, they are all working for fox news. they're forbidden from talking to other tv news organizations here in the united states. what impact will any of this have on the race for the white house? and a segway accident takes the life of it ceo. we're learning the details of exactly what happened. decided hey, let's go buy a house! i could go to quickenloans.com and sign all of the paper work i needed to take care of. and it didn't have to be between 9 and 5 -- which doesn't always work for me. the people at quicken loans really care.

it was nice to being able to call them whenever i needed to answer questions. they were on it. they were on top of everything. quicken loans made everything super convenient and easy. so the fact that they could work with my schedule was just wonderful. that's why i love quicken loans! ♪

top democrats are trying to go back to the future hoping to find some of that lost 2008 magic. let's turn to cnn's deputy political director paul steinhauser and mark preston. they're both at cnn's political desk. paul, first to you, top democrats are certainly out on the campaign trail today. >> that's it. that's right, wolf. tomorrow, the top two democrats are going back to school. that's right. president barack obama heading to the university of wisconsin in madison, wisconsin. vice president joe biden heading to penn state university. and the whole idea here, and it's brand new right now, the

whole idea here is to get those surge voters, the first-time voters in 2008, most of them who cast ballots for barack obama, to go back to the polls in november. and that idea is to excite these people, motivate them. a lot of voters, the first-time surge voters, are younger voters. that's why the president, the vice president are doing this. the democrats are planning watch parties across the country. the whole idea, to motivate the first-time voters. maybe it will make a difference in the midterm elections. mark, what have you got? >> democrats have been running against president george w. bush for more than ten years, except for this one. earl palmry is locked in a tight reelection. he has a new campaign ad out right now. let's look at that, wolf. >> when george bush proposed a medicare prescription plan, earl voted yes, putting seniors before party. >> that's a 30-second ad right now up on air in north dakota. very important right now because

president bush carried north dakota by 63% in 2004. john mccain carried it in 2008 by 53%. whe i spoke to the campaign. they said this shows that earl is independent. he is not beholden to the washington interests, the democratic interests. i also spoke to a house democratic strategist. the strategist told me he does not need to worry about anyone back here in washington. he needs to worry about getting rele reelected. wolf? >> guys, thanks very, very much, mark and paul. from getting publicity to venting hostilities to raising cash, the online social networking site twitter is changing politics and the way campaigns are run. cnn's jim acosta has been looking into that. >> reporter: it was another viral moment in a vicious race. supporters of harry reid scuffling with backers of sharon engel at a candidate forum. but even after tempers cooled,

the fight was far from over. it had moved to twitter where one of engel's campaign managers posted this video. the slip shows supporters shouting at engel. check out the video here of reid bots screaming and heckling. >> it was evident that negative politics was going to transform itself into social media and that's what's happened. now you don't need a complete sentence to change a campaign. >> less than 140 characters. >> less than 140 characters. you can tweet a phrase and it can change a campaign. >> first, harry reid votes to give -- >> reporter: these days, attack tweets are almost as common as attack ads. sharon engel mocks health coverage for autism. then there's a link to a video. >> everything that they want to throw at us now is covered under autism so that's a mandate that you have to pay for.

>> reporter: or this engel tweet, harry reid's plan, coked up stimulus monkeys, a reference to money being used for testing drugs on primates. this tweet gets personal, referring to reid's campaign managers as 13-year-old girls. and this tweet claims engel caught in multiple lies. >> i think we're at the beginning of a new era in american political history. >> reporter: michael is a tea party activist who pioneered a political use for another feature on twitter, the hash tack. that's the pound sign in front of common phrases or acronyms. his tag has become a haven for tea partiers. >> if you search and put it in, you'll see the tcot feed. and about ten tweets every minute now is the pace at which there are tcot tweets. there is a vibrant online conservative community.

>> reporter: when palin with more than a quarter million followers tweets, she makes news. >> she can put out a tweet and generate headlines in the traditional media. why would you go to the extra trouble? >> reporter: she'll have all of these reporters retweeting what she just tweeted. >> and writing a story about. the retweeting is how it really gets out there. >> twitter is an effective place to raise money. candidates can tweet out a money bomb, directing supporters to their website where a contribution can be made, all at no cost to the candidate. jim acosta, cnn, washington. followers of presidential politics can get tweets on another political campaign. john f. kennedy's. the presidential library is running a twitter account that lets readers imagine what the 1960 campaign might have been like in the age of twitter. take a look. they've been tweeting every day about the events of that

campaign as if they were happening now. the rolling twitter feed can be seen at twitter.com/kennedy1960, all one word. intriguing reports out of north korea about kim jong-il's ju youngest son. and the owner of segway dies on a segway. we're learning new details of the accident. everything you need to stretch out on long trips. residence inn. ♪ everything you need to stay balanced on long trips. residence inn.

the craftsman hammerhead goes everyday. driving home nails quickly and easily in the tightest spaces. more innovation, more great values. craftsman. trust. in your hands. boss: and now i'll turn it over gecko: ah, t, ecko. as we all know, geico has been saving people money on rv, camper and trailer insurance... ...as well as motorcycle insurance... gecko: oh...sorry, technical difficulties. boss: uh...what about this? gecko: what's this one do? gecko: um...maybe that one. ♪ dance music boss: ok, let's keep rolling. we're on motorcycle insurance. vo: take fifteen minutes to see how much you can save on motorcycle, rv, and camper insurance.

we're monitoring the top stories in "the situation room" right now. kate, what is going on? >> this is very interesting, wolf. the youngest son of kim jong-il reportedly is now a general. the north korean state news agency made the announcement this evening. it was the first time state media has ever mentioned him. this is why it's important. it seems it's being seen as a sign he's being groomed to succeed his father. he's believed to be 26 or 27 years old. the u.s. government has filed a complaint against the makers of pom. they are accused of making false claims about the benefits of its products on heart disease,

prostate cancer and other ailments. in a statement responding to the charges, pom says the case is unwarranted and that it disagrees with the allegations. this is a very sad story. the owner of the company that makes the segway has died apparently in an accident involving one of his upright two-wheeled vehicles. investigators believe 62-year-old james heselden was killed when his segway plunged into a river. h hes heselden took control of the company that makes segway earlier this year. the circumstances, wolf, are still being investigated, but still very, very sad. >> very sad indeed. very tragic. thanks, kate, for that "the situation room" is now on facebook. go to facebook.com/cnnsituationroom. click on the "like" button to become a fan. "the situation room" on facebook.

five gop presidential hopefuls, they work for fox news. they're barred from appearing on other tv networks. anything wrong with that? stand by. our new poll, voters tend to blame congressional republicans for the economic mess, but you won't believe who they think is more likely to improve that very same economic mess. felicia jackson promised her late sister that she would take care of her children. but she needed help. i used my american express open card to get half a million points to buy building materials to help build the jackson family a new home. well, i know if my dad was still around, he would have told me, with no doubt... he would have told me it's a no brainer and i knew that from the start. it was an honor. booming is moving forward by giving back.

no fewer than five republican presidential prosp t prospects are all paid contributors to fox news. their contracts bar them from appearing on other tv networks. so who will ask some of the really, really tough questions? what's going on here? jonathan martin has been digging into this story. he's joining us now. this is a rather unusual situation. you've reported today on politico at length about it. what is the issue here? describe the issue as you see it. >> this is new terrain, wolf, that we're dealing with here. the specter of a news organization having on their payroll potential white house candidates. now, in the past you have pat buchanan who worked for cnn, in between running for president, but now you've got five possible candidates out there. fox has said that they will sever ties with when the candidates declare, but as you know there is a gray area where these folks are going to be

going to places like iowa coand new hampshire not as declared candidates but as exploring a run, and what is fox going to do in january and february of 2011 when sarah palin, mike huckabee, they're looking at a run, they're going to those early states, but they're still on fox's payroll. how are they going to cover those candidates? >> what happens? can they do interviews with, for example, local tv stations in iowa and new hampshire? is that okay? does their contract bar them from doing that? does fox news have to approve all of these tv interviews? >> it's my understanding that any news organization -- at least tv side, i should say, that wants to have them on the air must get approval by fox news in new york. steve skully over at c-span, even c-span cannot have these folks on the air without getting prior approval from fox nationally. so that's, i think, what we're

looking at here going forward. this is new terrain here. we haven't dealt with this in years past. with the incentives seemingly geared towards putting off an announcement, you could have a situation next year where palin, for example, is neither in nor out of the race, but is on fox's payroll well into 2011, you know, while going to iowa and new hampshire. it's a brave new world out there. >> you make the point in the article that you posted on politico that staying on fox news gives all of these potential candidates an opportunity to really get their message across in a way that addresses a lot of the base of the republican party, the conservatives. >> that's exactly right. and the primary for the republicans, having that platform is a very, very powerful thing. and there's no incentive for them to give that up. especially when much of the questioning isn't exactly that tough, at least from the opinion

side host on fox. there's no reason for them to try and, you know, before they even declare their candidacy to drop theiraffiliation. if you're fox news, somebody like sarah palin, you have every reason to keep her on for as long as possible because obviously having her exclusive means that every time she makes news, it's going to happen on your air. >> you know, we've seen some other conservative republicans out there simply avoiding -- avoiding the national news media and only wanting to appear, whether in local news media markets or on fox. this is a phenomenon we saw with sharron angle, some with christine o'donnell. this is a new phenomenon, isn't it? >> it sure is. it may work in a primary, especially in a place like alaska or delaware where you're talking about a small university of voters. but when the candidates move to the general election, be it

senate races this year or next year's presidential primary contest, or general contest, it's going to be tougher for these candidates do that. they want to appeal to a broader swath of the electorate and obviously you're going to have to move beyond the fox universe to do that. but there's no question we're seeing more and more on the gop side, candidates only wanting to do fox to speak to their base. >> jonathan martin, writes for politico. thank you, jonathan, very much. >> thanks, wolf. who do voters blame for the economy and who do they think can fix it? in both cases, republicans. our newest poll reveals what some see as an odd contradiction. plus, an emergency landing all caught on tape from inside the plane. you can hear the urgency from the crew.

is it a case of voter desperation or short memories? in a new poll, when voters are

second who's more responsible for america's economic problems, 41% say republicans, 35% say democrats. but when asked who is more likely to improve economic conditions, 47% say congressional republicans, 41% say congressional democrats. let's bring in john king. he's the host of "john king usa" at the top of the hour. john, voters kicked out republicans in the midst of the economic crisis. does it surprise you now that voters think they can do a better job than the democrats in fixing the problem? >> wolf, those numbers give you a stunning example of the problem facing the democrats right now. the democratic argument has been don't blame us, the republicans are responsible for this mess. the voters agree. but they disagree with the democrats when the democrats say going back to the republicans would only make things worse. and that is why you see the president doing events like signing the small business bill

today on capitol hill. they're blaming republicans saying that republican policies would outsource jobs. the democrats are trying to do anything they can to try to break through on this economic message. here is the cold reality for them. 20 months into the obama administration, voters are not satisfied. they don't think enough has happened. they don't believe the stimulus program delivered all the jobs the president promised. they see persistently significantly stubbornly high unemployment. there's another poll that sums it up. 70% believe the country, things are going badly in the country today. when you have a number like this, history suggests this will be a very tough year for the party in power. >> yeah. that number is really, really important. and the president certainly underscored some of that frustration that he and a lot of democrats feel when he was on the "today" show earlier today. listen to this. >> what i'm seeing out of the -- the republican leadership over the last several years has been a set of policies that are just

irresponsible. and we saw in their pledge to america a similar set of irresponsible policies. they say they want to balance the budget. they propose $4 trillion worth of tax cuts and $16 billion in spending cuts. and then they say we're going to somehow magically balance the budget. what's not a serious approach. so, you know, the question for voters over the next five weeks is who is putting forward policies that have a chance to move our country forward? >> were the democrats surprised by how long it's taking to really get this economy back into shape? >> wolf, this has been one of the president's greatest frustrations and one of the arguments he's had. why is it taking so long? why did you tell me that jobs would come back quicker? they've had arguments within the white house. the challenge with five weeks left, as the president just said there, is to make their case to voters. what the president did there is part of a calculated strategy to

appeal to independent voters who have broken for the republicans in this election year, the deficit, spending. the president is trying to say look more closely, people. if you look at their pledge, they'll only add more red ink. what the president was doing is trying to bring back some of the independents who have left the democrats in this year's campaign. the rest of the week we'll see the second part of the strategy, which is the president going to college campuses, much of his cabinet spreading out to try to re-create the appeal of the obama policies for the younger voters that came out in 2008 but now don't show much interest in 2010. >> john will have more on this at the top of the hour on "john king usa." thanks, john. let's check back with kate. she's monitoring the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. what do you have, kate? >> a merger, wolf. southwest airlines is planning to buy airtran for $1.4 million.

they'd fly under the southwest name and policies including free checked baggage. airtran charges passengers to check their bags currently. the deal still has to be approved by airtran shoreholders and government regulators. the u.s. government lawyer who prosecuted the late alaska senator ted stevens has committed suicide according to this attorney. in 2008, nicholas marsh won corruption verdicts against stevens who lost his reelection bid, but the verdicts were thrown out amid charges of misconduct by the prosecution. marsh was under investigation by the justice department. stevens died in a plane crash last month. officials say one person is dead following a small plane crash in arizona. a cnn affiliate reports a single-engine plane hit a building right there. you see the video. it was trying to land. and then it burst into flames. no word yet on other injuries or really what caused the accident. pope benedict, well, he is defending the vatican bank in

the wake of a rare money laundering probe. the pope met with the director of the bank yesterday and told him that he trusts him and appreciates his work. prosecutors seized some $30 million in questionable bank transactions last week. the bank's director says the investigation is the result of what he calls a misundersta misunderstanding. and the oakland raiders are announcing the death of george blanda who held the record for the longest pro football career. over 26 seasons, the quarterback played for the chicago bears, the baltimore colts and the houston oilers as well as the raiders. he retired in 1975 at age 48 after throwing 27,000 yards and 236 touchdowns earning a place in the hall of fame. george blanda was 83 years old. it was an amazing career, wolf. guess how many games he played in his career. >> i love george blanda. i watched a lot of those games growing up. how many games? >> 340.

>> wow. >> that's amazing. >> he was a great field goal kicker, too. he just continued on and on and on. old-scho old-school, the old way. >> the real football players. >> well, that was the old days. thanks. our deepest condolences to the george blanda family. he was a great, great football star. corruption in afghanistan. has it reached so deeply that the u.s. is investigating the afghan president's own brother? and whether the u.s. government can assassinate american terrorists abroad. stick around. you're in "the situation room." a different story? of one financial company that grew stronger through the crisis. when some lost their way, this company led the way. by protecting clients and turning uncertainty into confidence. what if that story were true? it is.

♪

u.s. effort in afghanistan hasn't been made any easier by accusations of serious corruption reaching deep into the government in kabul. now there's word of a u.s. criminal investigation of someone very close to president hamid karzai. brian todd is looking into this story. what are you learning? >> this has been simmering for a while. aczcusation of corruption amid karzai's family. his brother may find himself the target of u.s. investigators. he's the eldest brother of afghanistan's president and one of the most influential power brokers in the country. now the "wall street journal" reports federal prosecutors in new york have opened a criminal investigation of mahmoud karzai, trying to determine if they have enough evidence to charge him with tax evasion, racketeering or extortion. contacted by cnn, a spokesperson for the u.s. attorney's office

in new york's southern district said it's their office policy neither to confirm nor deny the existence of investigations. i'm spoking with mahmoud karzai's attorney. have you or has mr. karzai been contacted about any possible probe by u.s. officials? >> no, absolutely not. as a matter of fact, mahmoud karzai found out there might be a criminal probe by a call from a "wall street journal" reporter. >> reporter: we contacted the justice department, the u.s. embassy in kabul and the afghan embassy in washington. none of those entities would comment. we could not reach anyone with president hamid karzai's staff to comment, possibly because of the time difference. carl forsberg with the institute for the study of war has written papers and testified before congress on corruption in afghanistan. what is the general concern regarding mahmoud karzai and his brothers in the whole corruption situation there? >> a lot of concerns stem from his business associations. he has connections to a lot of

the most notorious afghan war lords and their own business partners. >> reporter: i posed the idea that mahmoud karzai associates with war lords and gerald pozner. >> i don't know who he means by war lords. he has investors with him in real estate projects. he's trying to build the infrastructure of the country. >> posner says mahmoud karzai is a, quote, vanilla businessman who doesn't deal with war lords. he says karzai plays by the rules, is as american citizen who files u.s. taxes and posner points out he has given his tax returns to reporters, namely the "wall street journal," in the past. wolf? >> brian, if the u.s. attorney's office or others investigate mahmoud karzai, that's going to ratchet up the tension between the obama administration and president hamid karzai. >> there is a real risk of that. u.s. officials know they can't turn a blind eye to corruption. it's going to undercut their strategy of trying to bolster karzai's credibility in his country, but there have been

feuds that developed recently between karzai and u.s. officials whenever they've gone after karzai's associates on charges of corruption. now, if they investigate hamid karzai's own brother and anger him, that could effect a lot of u.s. operations on the ground in afghanistan. this is a very delicate tight rope that the u.s. is walking right now. background now on hamid karzai. he was educated in yiindia. he served as deputy foreign minister in the afghan government. after the fall of the soviet union, later he briefly aligned himself with the taliban but designed to become taliban ambassador to the united nations. in 1999, his father was murdered in pakistan by the taliban. two years later, mr. karzai worked with the u.s. government to overthrow the taliban in afghanistan. shortly after, he was chosen as interim leader of afghanistan. december 2004, mr. karzai was elected president of afghanistan. remains president right now. can the u.s. government assassinate an american citizen

accused of plotting terror attacks? details of a legal battle that's unfolding right now. plus, the joyous end to a harrowing flight, all of it caught on top. jeanne moos takes a moost unusual look. [ woman ] ring ring. progresso. this chicken tortilla soup has such a wonderful zesty quality. that's the chipotle and cilantro. it's one of our new mexican soups. it reminds me of guadalajara. a special man. his delicious soups. sheila? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

his delicious soups. sheila? ♪ when it's planes in the sky ♪ ♪ for a chain of supply, that's logistics ♪ ♪ when the parts for the line ♪ ♪ come precisely on time ♪ that's logistics ♪ ♪ a continuous link, that is always in sync ♪ ♪ that's logistics ♪ ♪ there will be no more stress ♪ ♪ cause you've called ups, that's logistics ♪

u.s. authorities are on the trail of an american cleric accused of recruiting and inciting terrorists. but if they find him, should they be allowed to simply assassinate him? let's go live to our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence, a real legal battle over a secret hit list. what's going on? >> on one hand, the u.s. government is arguing that no way should the courts get involved in tracking down terrorists, on the other hand the aclu says they're not going

to give a blank check to president obama or any president when it comes to targeting american citizens for assassination. >> reporter: u.s. officials say he recruited the nigerian man who tried to blow up a plane full of americans on christmas. officials at yemen tell cnn they're tracking him and now believe he's holed up in yemen's known stronghold. but yemen's government is purposely downplaying al awlaki's importance. >> the government has to be very delicate in how they try to catch them. >> reporter: the u.s. military wants to spend more than a billion dollars worth of equipment and training to yemen, guns, helicopters, patrol boats and allow american advisors to

go out with yemeni troops in noncombat rolls. a u.s. official says there's no doubt he needs to be dealt with, he doesn't belong on the battlefie battlefield, on the street or anywhere else he could do bad things. but even though he may be hiding in yemen, he's an american who's been put on a hit list to be captured or killed. president obama evoked a state secret privilege which says targeting american citizens outside a battlefield is unconstitution unconstitutional. the government says it's not going to tell an active terrorist how it fights. the aclu says the government leaked information about him as part of a coordinated political press strategy, to prove to the american people that it was going after terrorists. >> they want to see this published on the front page of the "washington post," it's not a state secret, when we want to put some legal limits on what

the government can do to a u.s. citizen, all of a sudden that same conversation is off limits. >> reporter: both sides tell us they expect a judge to rule very quickly, there is a time element on this because there are reports that al-awalak has been targeted by air strikes and officials tell us they're still going after him. fighting terror versus your privacy rights, e-mail, twitter, facebook, should the government be looking at what you write? plus a flight that the passengers on this plane will simply never forget. jeanne moos takes a most unusual look. sweat every day to make an honest buck...month. and if you're gonna try and do this in anything other than a chevy... well, good luck...month. great deals on the complete family of chevy trucks all backed for a hundred thousand miles. it's truck month. now, during truck month, get 0% apr financing on all trucks

and full-size suvs like this 2011 silverado. see your local chevrolet dealer. the power and versatility of six tools packed into one. more innovation. more great values. craftsman. 20 minutes later, she'll bring one into the world in seattle. later today, she'll help an accident victim in kansas. how can one nurse be in all these places? through the nurses she taught in this place. johnson & johnson knows, behind every nurse who touches a life...

there's a nurse educator... who first touched them. ♪ you're a nurse ♪ you make a difference [ evan ] ah it's cool. ah... ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah! ah! whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what is that? how come my dap wasn't like that? huh? it's just an "us" thing. yeah, it's a little something we do. who else is in this so-called "us"? man, i don't know. there's a lot of us. [ chuckles ] ask your friends what it's like to be part of a group that's 40 million strong. state farm insures more drivers

than geico and progressive combined. it's no surprise, with so many ways to save and discounts of up to 40%. so call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online. there's a look at the hot shots in coliseum. in moscow, a dancer wearing a red skirts performs at a ceremony. and in los angeles, over at the zoo, a 3 week old giraffe is guarded closely by its mother. hot shots, pictures worth 1,000 words. an emergency landing caught on tape from inside the plane. jeanne moos takes a most unusual look. >> reporter: ever wonder what an emergency landing is like? you don't have to wonder

anymore, these two passengers shot one on their iphone. >> stay down! heads down! stay down! >> reporter: the landing gear didn't properly deploy. >> he kind of looked at me like i was crazy, i said we're going do record this. >> we're all there and the flight attendant is yelling head down head down! >> reporter: this isn't the first emergency landing caught on tape by passengers, flight attendants chant. are almost identical from airline to airline. this plane landed in washington after its front tire blue. passengers have recorded oxygen masks deployed and even plane evacuation. >> leave the aircraft. leave the aircraft. >> reporter: all the way down the emergency slide.

the most recent video of the delta emergency landing included the incredibly calm warning from the pilot. >> brace for impact. >> alsondro also captured the applause when they didn't die and passengers thanking and hugging the pilot afterwards, as the video flew around the web, it sparked a minor debate. >> just for doing her job, yelling heads down, stay down, the flight attendant got her head handed to her by critics. her instructions were described as nerve-racking, if the last voice i heard on earth was that one, i would be a very annoyed dead guy. another one said give that lady a raise.